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Bucharest · Hotel shortlist

Cheap hotels in the university district, Bucharest

Daniel Kovac

Daniel Kovac Central Europe

Updated 1 September 2026 · 16 Bucharest hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in Bucharest, out of the 16 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.5 down to 4.1.

Every one comes in under $130 a night, and the one I would book first is $47.

Decebal Residence Apartments

Highest rated of the five

Decebal Residence Apartments

★★★★★4.5 from 201 reviews

Decebal Residence Apartments comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.5 from 201 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is found under the university district and around $47 a night on the dates we checked.

16 hotels in Bucharest qualified for this list and five made it. Monte Carlo Palace Rooms & Suites is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Decebal Residence Apartments1

    Decebal Residence Apartments

    ★★★★★4.5 from 201 reviews

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    • Monte Carlo Palace Rooms & Suites2

      Monte Carlo Palace Rooms & Suites

      ★★★★★4.1 from 746 reviews

      • Parking
      • Kitchen
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning
      • Accessible

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    • B&B Duo Caffe3

      B&B Duo Caffe

      ★★★★★4.2 from 234 reviews

      • Parking
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning

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    • Sleep Inn Hostel4

      Sleep Inn Hostel

      ★★★★★4.2 from 547 reviews

      • Parking
      • Kitchen
      • Kid friendly
      • Air conditioning

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    • Old Centrum Bucharest5

      Old Centrum Bucharest

      ★★★★★4.3 from 125 reviews

      • Parking
      • Kid friendly

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    How this list was put together

    16 Bucharest hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.

    Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

    The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

    What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

    Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

    Daniel Kovac

    Daniel Kovac Central Europe

    Takes the same two weeks every August and drives somewhere far with his wife and daughter. Twelve countries, all by road, all in one battered estate car. Plans routes on paper maps.

    Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.